


Wrought By Blood

by Rinari7



Series: Nikolija 'Verse [2]
Category: Sanctuary (TV)
Genre: 5 Times, Blood, F/M, Gen, Genderswapped Canon Male Character, Injections, Transformation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-26
Updated: 2017-02-26
Packaged: 2018-09-27 00:33:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,528
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9941372
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rinari7/pseuds/Rinari7
Summary: When each of the Five was injected, he or she received a gift. Most were immediately obvious.(Or, a 5+1 fic featuring each of the five receiving their powers, and each of them realizing what their power is.)





	

**Author's Note:**

> This was written as a bit of an exploratory piece in the AU 'verse for a work in progress of mine, in which Nikola is female (though she crossdresses/disguises herself as male at least part of the time).  
> Hence Nikolija. I've attempted to still keep the character's personality intact, however.
> 
> Many thanks to [Keekmenta](http://keekmenta.tumblr.com/) for her inspiration in coming up with a title! (My least favorite part of things.)

**1.**

Helen gripped Nikolija’s and John’s hands forcefully as she shuddered, the pain coursing through her like a river overflowing its banks, overturning every coherent thought she had until she was nearly certain she would faint. It felt as though her flesh were being turned inside out. She was sure she cried out, as she rocked helplessly, but she couldn’t hear herself at all.

But she didn’t faint, not quite, and as it became bearable she stilled again, seeing relief wash over their worried faces as she took a deep breath and relaxed. And then it subsided, completely, and she felt as though she had just woken up, taken a drink of cold water, or gotten too near the influence machine Nikolija seemed fascinated by, which made her hair stand on end. Somehow, she felt a little more _alive_ than before.

She exhaled, straightened, and smiled, and answered the question hovering unspoken on all their lips. “I’m quite all right.”  
Her smile warmed, broadened slightly, as she looked at John, and she watched the tension leave his shoulders.

“If that’s the case, would you mind not crushing my fingers?”

“Oh! I’m sorry.” She hadn’t intended to squeeze quite so hard.

He flexed his fingers, and glance to her other side told her Nikolija was doing the same, with slightly pained smile. “It’s all right, Helen.” John couldn’t quite keep from touching her, though, setting his other hand on her forearm and slowly stroking over her skin.

“How do you feel?” James would never hover, and yet she couldn’t find a more fitting description at the moment, as he stood idly, waiting, his gaze fixed on her face.

“I feel fine. Not much different than before, actually. Refreshed, perhaps.” She lifted her shoulders, with a wry, amused exhale. “I’m not sure what we expected to happen, really.”

They all looked at one another around the circle, and smiled, chuckled quietly with relief.

 

**2.**

They had made a pact, to do it all together, and so it was Helen who injected James, while John stood with a hand on his shoulder, and Nigel and Nikolija watched, rapt, still, Nigel’s hands in his pockets and Nikolija’s arms crossed over her waistcoat.  
It took a moment, after Helen had withdrawn the needle and began pressing a gauze pad to the inside of his elbow, before James groaned and doubled over, letting go of her other hand to hold his head, pressing his palms to his temples.

She bit her lip, empathizing, and stroked her thumb over his arm. “It’ll be over soon.”

And it was. He inhaled, and straightened, slowly, his brow wrinkled. “I don’t feel ‘refreshed,’ as you say, Helen, but…” He cast his gaze over them, something flickering in his eyes, as if seeing them in a new light. “Have you not been sleeping well, Nikolija?”

“I… no, I have not.” She frowned slightly as she stared back at him.

“Why?” Helen glanced between the two. There was nothing she saw to indicate that Nikolija had not been her usual energetic self, but then she was a wizard with facepaint, when she wished to be.

James lifted a hand, as if to point to something, or gesture, but then stopped short of indicating anything in particular, and Helen knew by the way he blinked and looked beyond anything in the room that his mind had just switched tracks again. “You know, Helen, that problem you were having with purifying those salts…”

 

**3.**

Nigel inhaled, and nodded for James to get on with it.

Nikolija stood at his side, just barely touching him on the shoulder, but Nigel simply clutched the arms of the chair, leaned back — and disappeared, leaving his clothes floating in what seemed to be midair, though still shaped, as though his body were in them.

They heard a groan, and Nikolija groped blindly, seemed to hit something with the back of her hand, and relaxed slightly, but Helen still saw nothing.

“Nigel?” James reached for him, and found something solid, clasped his hand around his hand, or forearm.

“Blimey.” Nigel’s voice. He wasn’t gone, at least, and she could almost feel the collective exhale. “That’s something new. Hurt like bloody hell, though.”

“Can you change back?”

“Not sure if I want to go through that again…” But as he spoke, he faded back into view, looked down at himself, and grinned. “Well. Isn’t that somethin’. Didn’t hurt that time, neither.”

“That’s certainly good to know.” John let out a half-laugh, trying to hide his own nervousness behind it, and Helen took his hand, lacing her fingers through his.

Nikolija reached out, feeling Nigel’s hair between her fingers, grinning. “You could join the circus now, if you wanted to. And I’m sure any theater or illusionist would be delighted to have you.”

Nigel chuckled, watching as his hand disappeared again, and reappeared. “I c’n think of a few better uses for this.”

 

**4.**

Helen gasped as something crackled through her, an odd tingling that spread from where John’s hand clutched hers. Then it was gone, and she was crouched on a soft and all-too-forgiving surface, and John was similarly unbalanced, and she fell over with him. Her forehead hit his knee, and he grunted as her shoulder landed on his stomach, and the drapes in front of her seemed oddly familiar.

They were on a bed, four-poster and canopied in burgundy, with the drapes closed. A very familiar bed, somehow. There was a small tear in the curtain, right at the spot where she and John had accidentally ripped it the other evening as they…  
Helen rolled onto her back and propped herself up on her elbows, looking around them. “John.”

He sat up as well, grimacing, before bemusement broke over his expression. “We’re in your bedchamber.”

Just to be certain, she drew back the drape, and yes, there on the nightstand was Darwin’s _On The Origin of Species_ , with sheafs of paper inserted in various places as annotated bookmarks, what she could see of the notes written in her tight cursive. “Yes, I do believe so.”

“I was attempting to think of pleasant things, to help bear the pain better. I thought of here, first, and then suddenly…” He spread his hands.

Instantaneous travel, apparently taking her with him. It wasn’t the strangest thing she’d seen.

Helen dipped her head, unable to keep a smile from her face, and clasped one of his hands, and kissed him on the cheek. “As flattered as I am… perhaps you might try thinking of the room where we just were?”

James must have been crouched over, inspecting the chair, because she stumbled as they landed, and nearly sat on his head. Nikolija grabbed her arm, just in time, with wide eyes.  
“Helen! Where have you been?”

John cleared his throat, and Helen couldn’t help the small amused noise that escaped her lips, and Nikolija’s eyebrows rose.

 

**5.**

Nikolija’s, of course, was likely the most dramatic change of them all, though they didn’t realize all of its ramifications at the time. Compared to the previous two, it was fairly tame in its presentation.

There was a throaty, metallic quality to her cry, and then she hissed and bared sharp teeth, and opened black eyes, and long claws made deep gouges in the wooden chair.

Helen stared, fascinated, as Nikolija ran her tongue carefully over her newly pointed teeth, and worried at her lip, and inspected her claws. “Interesting.”

“How d’you feel?” Nigel wore a small grin.

Nikolija stood, tossing stray locks of hair out of her face, flexing her fingers, rolling her shoulders. “I feel… strong. Powerful. As I have never felt before. Almost… invincible.”

She tested one of her claws on the inside of her arm, and grimaced when she left a pink line — a grimace that turned into rapt wonder as the slight injury faded before their eyes. John’s hand suddenly tightened around Helen’s, and she realized she herself was gaping.

“Well. I would certainly call that a successful experiment.” Nikolija gave them all an absolutely ecstatic grin.

(The “feeding on blood” aspect they would discover later. The dead carriage horse was a problem, but they were lucky. It was better than a dead human.)

 

**+1**

She wasn’t envious. Helen Magnus refused to be envious, simply on principle.

It may not have been precisely _fair_ , that the others had acquired marvelous gifts as the result of her experiment — for it was hers, at its core, and none of them would have disputed it — while she remained seemingly ordinary. Yet she couldn’t change it, and so she simply did her best to assist her friends with the challenges of their new qualities, and she went on with life, and perhaps she grew a bit closer to James, whose gift wasn’t quite so outlandish. She did her best not to let any resentment grow, and was, for the most part, successful.

By the time Helen realized what her own gift had been, she was more than ready to call it the curse it truly was, and she very nearly regretted ever having touched the blasted Source Blood in the first place.

**Author's Note:**

> I debated whether or not to post a (only very slightly altered) version with Nikola as his canon gender, but I find my muse vastly prefers Nikolija, so... I probably won't.
> 
> Also: why have I not seen fic like this before? The Five having just acquired their powers, in the thrall of discovery and experimentation with them, are so fascinating to me.


End file.
